


I have travelled a long way...

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-12
Updated: 2014-08-20
Packaged: 2018-02-04 08:36:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1772710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It could have just been a missed connection. But when Rin comes across a tie to the stranger he ran into on the train, the brief intersection of their lives gains the potential to be more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rin jostled through the crowd of people milling into the subway station, in too much of a hurry to respond to the glares or jeers directed at him for stepped-on toes or briefcases sent spinning.

He glanced quickly at his wristwatch as he crossed the turnstile, swiping his transit pass along the way, and bit off a curse when he saw the time. There was only a minute left before the arrival of his train.

Once past, he broke into a run, earning more displeasure from his fellow transit goers and a sharp “Sir!” from a nearby station worker.

 _Damn you Ryuugazaki!_ Rin thought as he just barely avoided missing a step down the stairs to the platform. _This is all your fault!_

Ryuugazaki Rei was Rin’s roommate and went to the same university. They had met when they both responded to an ad for an apartment near their school. It was Ryuugazaki who got into contact with Rin, through the advertiser, and proposed rooming together to share the rent. Ryuugazaki had seemed sensible and intelligent, so Rin had agreed to the idea. And he had met those expectations at first, but when Rin found him hogging the bathroom on the day of his first early morning class, meticulously trimming his bangs _for god sakes_ and protesting that he could not leave the bathroom until they were correctly angled, he began to reconsider. It took half an hour for Ryuugazaki to be satisfied with his hair, by which point Rin was running late and fuming.

But thoughts of his frustrating roommate and the retribution that awaited him for ruffling his hair on his way out flew out of Rin’s mind as his train barrelled into the station. Not slowing his momentum, he hurried down the last few steps and ran towards the train, so focused on getting through the doors that he forgot to stop for the people getting out.

He realized too late, just as the doors opened, and the first passenger stepped out.

Unable to slow down at the pace he was going, Rin saw the passenger, a man with black hair and his head bowed, start to look up a split second before he crashed into him and sent him falling backward into the train.

The man released a short yelp before his back hit the floor and Rin landed on top of him.

Groaning, Rin breathed in the faintly floral scent of the man’s aftershave as he lifted himself off his chest and stared down.

The man underneath him had his eyes squeezed shut and a slight grimace on his face.

Realizing that his elbow was digging into the guy’s stomach, Rin sheepishly removed it. He moved to sit up when the man opened his eyes.

Rin’s own widened. The man glared at him so fiercely that normally he would have gotten as far away as possible. Instead he was rooted to the spot, unexpectedly struck by the man’s vivid blue eyes. Rin was suddenly hit by a fragmented memory from long ago. It surfaced out of nowhere; a hazy memory of being led into chilly shallow water by a nameless child with eyes the same colour as the sea around them.

“Get off.”

Rin jolted at the sound of the man’s voice, realizing that he had been openly staring. The strange memory faded away. He felt the heat rise to his face as he quickly sat up.

Without sparing him another glance, the man proceeded to get up and collect several items that their collision had caused him to drop. A notebook had fallen by Rin’s foot. He bent to pick it up, but the man snatched it out of his hand.

The people who had been standing by while they sorted themselves out began to enter the train. In the midst, the blue-eyed man moved to leave.

“Wait!” Rin called, inexplicably panicked. He pushed through the crowd until he was at the train doors. The bells signalling that they were about to close rung overhead.

“I-I’m sorry!”

The man gave no sign that he had heard. He continued on his way.

Rin sighed and settled into a corner, vehemently avoiding the stares of the other passengers.

He glanced out the window and saw the man limping slightly to the stairs. Rin groaned and buried his face in his hands.

_I’m such an idiot._

He lifted his head and glanced out again.

The man had reached the stairs, but instead of climbing them, he stood at the foot, brow furrowed as he stared back at the train.

Their eyes met just as it began to move.

The man’s figure blurred as the train sped away from the station, leaving Rin with a strangely hollow feeling as he disappeared from view.

“Excuse me.”

Rin turned to see a teenage girl holding out a black leather-bound book. She smiled at him a little nervously.

“The gentleman from earlier dropped this when you um bumped into him earlier and forgot to pick it up.”

Rin’s face burned as he accepted the book. It only figured that it became his responsibility since it had been his fault that it had fallen in the first place.

_So that’s why he turned back._

Rin stuck a finger under the cover, about to turn it over, when he realized how nosy that would be.

 _I wouldn’t want a stranger to look through my diary or whatever this is_ , he thought, though his finger remained under the cover a second longer.

_I’ll leave it at the lost and found on my way back._

He pulled his bag out to put the book away when the leather caught the light at an angle that revealed markings in black ink on the cover.

Rin brought it closer to make them out.

“Nanase...Haruka,” he read.

He brushed his thumb over the name, repeating it quietly under his breath.

Rin carefully placed the book in between two of his own so that it would not get dented during the day, and held his bag in his arms.

He turned to the window, now dark from being underground, and met his reflection, eyes lit and lips quirked in a smile.

_Maybe he’ll be at the station again tomorrow..._


	2. Chapter 2

Rin’s journey back from school was much less eventful than the one to. He’d had several back to back classes that day followed by a rigorous swim practice that had left him thoroughly exhausted. Unfortunately, he had been unable to avoid rush hour like he had that morning and was not able to land a seat on the train. He was at least able to lean against the wall and somewhat rest his weary legs. The train finally reached his stop and he followed the crowd pouring out, all the while daydreaming of a hearty meal and a relaxing bath back at the apartment. He went by the lost and found on his way to the exit, only to see a sign on the front apologizing for being temporary closed while the attendant went on break. Rin was relieved.

He had not been able to get the man he had literally run into that morning out of his head. Or rather _Nanase Haruka_ if the name on the book the man had left behind was correct.

All Nanase had done during their encounter was glare at him and act rightfully pissed, so Rin could not understand why he had affected him so much. Sure, he had _amazing_ eyes and was _really_ cute, a realization he had made after his embarrassment over the incident had lessened a little (only for it to promptly increase), but they had not even had a conversation. Hell, their entire interaction had not even lasted five minutes! And yet...Rin was excited to have a chance to see him again.

He finally reached his building and buzzed Ryuugazaki from downstairs. The line rang for some time and then went dead. Rin frowned and buzzed again. Nothing.

_He’s supposed to be there to let me in!_

He tried a few more times, but the result was the same. At last, another tenant came by with the door key and after giving him a long look and getting confirmation that he lived there, let him and herself in.

Rin stomped up the stairs to their second floor apartment, hoping for Ryuugazaki’s sake that there was just something wrong with the phone. It had barely been a week since they had moved in and neither had had time to go out and get the keys duplicated. To deal with that, they had arranged their schedules so that one of them was always at the apartment to let the other in. It had not been easy to do but it was temporary and had worked out so far.

Rin reached the apartment door and banged on it. No one answered.

“That jerk! Is this because of the thing with his hair?”

He pounded on the door some more before accepting that it was futile. His stomach grumbled loudly.

“Tch. The food is so close!”

He grabbed his cell phone.

“If you don’t get your ass here in 15 minutes,” Rin typed. “So help me God, you’ll never have a good hair day again.” He sent the text to Ryuugazaki and slumped down against the wall.

“Maybe I’ve got a protein bar...”

He pulled his bag off his shoulder and rummaged through the pockets. He got out all the contents but found nothing to eat. Defeated, he began putting everything away, but came to a halt when he picked up Nanase’s book.

Through a combination of willpower and finding other things to occupy himself with throughout the day, Rin had managed to resist the temptation to open it. But his low spirits and the lack of things to do right then were not working in his favour.

_I should start on my readings._

He glanced at one of his thick literature textbooks. It looked dour in comparison to the sleek black leather-bound book and interested him far less right then

“Don’t do it Rin...” he told himself while simultaneously opening the book to a random page.

To his surprise, he was not greeted by words as he had expected, but by an astonishingly realistic drawing of a waterfall. The streaming water, frozen on the paper, almost appeared as if it would start moving at any second. It had been mostly coloured in and the vibrant colours contrasted sharply with the glaringly white outer edges, popping out. Rin stared at it for some time before eventually turning to another page.

It contained a black and white monochromatic drawing of a window beyond which a storm raged. The rivulets of rain had been carefully shaded in to stand out of the seemingly blurry glass and even cast shadows on the sill underneath. Rin lightly touched the drawn glass, half expecting it to tremble from the force of the storm. He turned the page again.

The next piece was a watercolour of a scrawny white cat timidly dipping its paw into a small puddle, on top of which cherry blossom petals and a strange bird(?) carving floated.

“He must _really_ like water,” Rin discerned, noticing the element’s presence in almost every piece. Another recurring thing was the image of a smiling boy with down turned eyes. There were not many images of people in the sketchbook, but the boy with the down turned eyes appeared more than anyone else.

“Who’s he?” Rin wondered. The smiling boy got older as he got further into the sketchbook, growing taller and more muscular. It made Rin wonder how old the sketchbook was and for how long Nanase had been drawing in it.

Curious, he turned to a random page near the front. The picture he landed on was a sketch of the ocean shore. The lines were shakier than the ones further in the sketchbook, suggesting that they were drawn by a less experienced hand, but contained the same sort of energy that all of Nanase’s art had had so far. Something about it though made Rin look at it closer. Maybe it was the less polished style or the rougher shading, but the picture somehow appeared more _alive_ than the others. The rolling ocean, imbued with the same sense of imminent motion as the waterfall piece, threatened to flow off the page, and just by looking at it, he could distantly hear the sound of the waves crashing onto the shore. It began to give Rin the uneasy feeling that he had seen it somewhere before.

He stared harder at the picture, vaguely aware of the sensation of seawater around his ankles and a small warm hand around his wrist-

“I hope you learned your lesson.”

Rin tore his gaze from the picture to Ryuugazaki frowning above him.

“I hope you learned your lesson,” Ryuugazaki repeated. “About not messing with something that someone has put a lot of care and effort into organizing.”

“Are you seriously comparing you bailing out of our arrangement to me ruffling your hair this morning? I nearly starved waiting for you!”

“The presentability of my hair directly correlates to my overall presentability during the day! And you’re completely exaggerating because you only texted me 10 minutes ago.”

“Whatever. I’ll definitely get the keys duplicated tomorrow morning so you better not be hogging the bathroom when I need it! Now are you going to open the door or not?”

Ryuugazaki sighed and took the keys out of his pocket. He happened to glance at the sketchbook still open in Rin’s lap. His eyes widened.

“You draw?”

Rin quickly closed the book.

“N-No. I found it on the train. I know who it belongs to and the lost and found was closed so...”

“You really shouldn’t be looking through it.”

Rin flushed guiltily.

“Anyways are you coming in?”

Rin gathered his things and followed Ryuugazaki through the door. After putting everything away and _finally_ getting to eat, he got into the bath. Being a swimmer, he was used to the constant presence of water in his life, though he had never thought of it as anything other than a medium to swim in. But after seeing all of Nanase’s water art, he could no longer help but associate the element with him. He wondered about Nanase’s obvious fascination with water and the strange sense of familiarity he felt towards the drawing of the ocean shore. He tried to recall the memory that had risen when their eyes had met for the first time, but all that came to mind was the sensation of seawater around his ankles.

It was weird. Usually, he had a great memory, but the more he tried to remember that particular one, the more it got out of reach.

 _If I see him again_ , Rin thought, cupping bathwater in his hands and trying to prevent it from trickling away, _perhaps_   _it’ll come back to me_.

One thing was for sure and it was that Rin wanted to see Nanase again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll actually start getting somewhere next chapter xD


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slightly edited since originally posted*

The incessant ringing of his alarm clock dragged Rin out of sleep, dispersing dreams of water and curious blue-eyed children. Reaching for his cell phone, he turned off the alarm and squinted blearily at the screen. His brows knit together in confusion when he saw the _ungodly_ hour.

Returning it to his night table, he prepared to go back to sleep, when his arm brushed against something smooth next to his pillow. Rin peered over at it and, realizing what it was, the events of the day before came rushing back. Forgetting his fatigue, he untangled himself from his sheets and got out of bed. He put Nanase’s sketchbook, which he had dozed off beside after pouring over its pages late into the night, on his desk, and took the clothes, draped over the chair, that he had prepared before he had gone to bed. He hurried to his bedroom door, throwing it open just as Ryuugazaki also opened his. Their eyes met.

_Not this time!_

Rin broke their connection and ran to the bathroom before Ryuugazaki even had the chance to drop the hand he had been rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with. His sigh could be heard through the door.

But his patience only lasted so long.

“This is hypocrisy!” Ryuugazaki shouted, banging on the door after Rin had been in there for twenty minutes. “ _I’ve_ got an early class today! There’s no need to be spite-”

“I’m not being spiteful,” Rin replied, opening the door and brushing past him.

Ryuugazaki raised an eyebrow at his appearance.

“Are you going to a job interview?”

“C-Can’t a guy just dress nice for a change?”

“Certainly. I only asked because your current appearance is starkly different from your generally er _casual_ one.”

“Oi...”

“A dress shirt and slacks are commonly worn to job interviews, so it was an easy mistake to make. Though now that I look closer, the number of buttons you’ve left undone imply that you’re going to a less formal event. Perhaps a date or-”

“Oi! Are you going into the bathroom or not?”

...

Rin was just about to leave when, after only ten minutes- _totally on purpose_ -Ryuugazaki emerged from the bathroom.

“Wait. Weren’t you going to get the keys duplicated? I won’t be ready for half an hour, and there’s no way to lock the door if you take them right now. You have to wait.”

He was right. Rin reluctantly let go of the door knob.

Ryuugazaki tsked.

“You were the one who declared that you’d do it, you know. Ugh fine! I’ll get it done on my way back.”

Ryuugazaki crossed the living room to get to the joint kitchen where he began irately preparing his breakfast. “That means you’d better get their number,” he grumbled.

Rin turned around sharply.

_Is that a_ smirk _?_

“And a word of advice. I wouldn’t recommend telling them that you went through their sketchbook.”

“...”

Red-faced, Rin opened the door.

“Thanks,” he mumbled as he stepped out. “...Rei.”

His roommate’s smug expression changed to one of surprise just as the door shut.

Rin arrived at the subway station with time to spare, an altogether different experience to the previous day. Before he went downstairs, he paid a visit to the lost and found. Arriving there, he discovered that it had not yet opened for the day, though an attendant could be seen through the protective glass, checking inventory.

Rin tapped on the glass, startling the young man, who almost dropped his clipboard.

“Good morning, sir! I’m afraid we’re not open yet. If you come back in-”

“I just have one question.”

“O-Okay.”

“Did anyone come by yesterday in search of a lost sketchbook?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Though you might want to check with my co-worker as well. He’ll be in when we open.”

Rin thanked him for his time. The station he was at was the last stop on the line, so all items lost on it were stored there. If Nanase had not checked yesterday, he might that day.

_Maybe I can leave my number for him with the book. Or is that too forward..._

He headed down to the platform. Rush hour had not yet begun, but it was gradually filling up. Rin managed to find a seat on a bench by the stairs with a decent view of the area.

The chance that he might encounter Nanase there again was the reason he had gotten up so early to be at the platform at the same time as yesterday. It was...not exactly a great plan, and in the back of his mind, Rin knew he was acting foolish, but he could not ignore the _pull_ he felt towards Nanase. He had to try.

_The lost and found won’t open for some time, anyways. I’ll just wait until then._

Rin jerked to attention as loud rumbling filled the platform. He looked on intently as the train entered the station. The doors opened and a steady flow of passengers filed out. He watched closely until everyone had exited, but was disappointed not to see Nanase.

He continued to wait-even catching a glimpse of Rei at one point, though due to the increasing amount of people arriving at the platform, his roommate did not see him-but after a quarter of an hour of waiting and no results, he could not help but feel disheartened.

He stayed a while longer, but there was still no sign of Nanase. When the time was up, he dejectedly rose and proceeded towards the stairs. Rush hour had started and the station was a hive of activity. Rin allowed himself to be carried along by the crowd.

_Who goes chasing after someone they’ve barely met-and even that’s a stretch-in a place as impossible as this... This was a waste of time. What was I thinking..._

Only distantly aware that he had arrived at the lost and found, he did not notice that the attendant was different from the one before, nor was he paying attention to his proximity to the person in front of him.

_I got overly excited by the cliche way we met. I’ve read too much of my sister’s manga. Ugh. How pathe-_

In one moment Rin was wallowing in shame, and in the next he was astonished to find his face pressed against someone’s-rather muscular-back.

“Um...”

“S-Sorry!” Rin cried, jumping back. “I wasn’t looking where I was-”

“It’s okay,” the owner of the back said in an unexpectedly gentle voice.

Rin lowered his hands with which he had instinctively covered his face. The person, a tall man with kind, down turned green eyes, smiled at him reassuringly.

_Those eyes... And that smile... Wait-_

The green-eyed man returned his attention to the attendant he had been speaking to, when Rin gasped loudly. He glanced back at him in alarm.

“Y-You’re the boy in the sketchbook!”

The man’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.

He was the smiling boy with the down turned eyes from Nanase’s sketchbook, brought to life. Rin had thought Nanase was a gifted artist, but he never could have imagined how great the drawing’s resemblance was to the real thing.

While Rin stared at the man in shock, the new attendant called to someone out of sight. The attendant Rin had spoken to earlier came to the front.

“Is that the guy you spoke to, Ai-chan?”

“Ah, it is!”

The new attendant waved excitedly at the bewildered green-eyed man.

“Tachibana-kun, you’re in luck! From the sound of it, this person seems to have information about the thing you’re looking for!”

“Is that so?” The green-eyed man, apparently called Tachibana, looked at Rin. “My friend lost his sketchbook here yesterday, and I noticed that you mentioned something about one earlier.”

The three of them waited for Rin to respond.

There was a moment of hesitation before he lowered his bag and carefully took out Nanase's sketchbook.

“I picked it up after your friend dropped it.”

“Haru’s sketchbook!” Tachibana exclaimed enthusiastically. Beaming, he accepted it from Rin.

_There it goes..._

“Thank you so much! This is very important to my friend. When I heard he’d dropped it on the train, I was really worried that we wouldn’t find it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Rin replied quietly. “Is your friend’s name Nanase Haruka?”

“Yeah. How did you-Oh, it’s on the cover. I’m so relieved to have found it! We’ve got to tell Haru right away!”

“W-We?”

“My friend’s right outside. If you’ve got the time, please let him thank you as well. I’m sure he’d want to.”

“O-Okay.”

Tachibana smiled, and after thanking the attendants who were watching them with great interest- _what was this, a soap?_ -he gestured for Rin to follow him.

The station was packed by then, and if Tachibana had not towered over everyone else, Rin might have lost him.

“I’m Tachibana Makoto, by the way,” he called behind.

“Matsuoka Rin. Why's your friend outside, anyways?”

“It was too crowded in here. Haru’s very keen on maintaining his personal space.”

Rin remembered how he had fallen on him yesterday.

_I hope he isn’t still upset about that... I can’t believe I’m really going to see him._

Tachibana led him out to the front of the station, and past the multitudes of people going in, until they eventually reached an empty bench.

“He was waiting right here...” Tachibana frowned. The sound of a loud splash nearby made him freeze.

Wondering at his strange expression, Rin glanced in the direction of the sound. It had come from a public fountain not far from the bench, around which a few people had gathered.

“Oh no,” Tachibana groaned. “I should’ve known.”

Before Rin could ask him what he meant, Tachibana began jogging towards the fountain. He followed him, but came to a halt upon seeing a figure, clad in only a swimsuit, gliding serenely through the water.

“Haru!” Tachibana cried. “Get out of there, please!”

Seeming lost in bliss, the figure ignored him.

Tachibana sighed in exasperation. “I've got your sketchbook.”

The figure's eyes opened underwater and he rose to the surface. He shook the water out of his hair and, accepting the hand that Tachibana held out, let him pull him to his feet.

“Was it at the lost and found?”

“Yeah. Matsuoka-kun found it.” Tachibana directed his friend's attention to Rin.

When their eyes met, Rin overwhelmingly felt as if he had experienced a similar scene before. The sight of Nanase standing knee-deep in water, gazing at him through blue eyes as fathomless as the ocean, overlaid with a distant memory of a child doing the same. The ground beneath him seemed to give way, becoming moist and pliable, like wet sand, before he felt the cold, insistent touch of waves breaking at his feet.

Spellbound, he watched as the corners of Nanase’s mouth turned up, and though his smile was small, when it bloomed, Rin swore he shone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I sort of lost sight of what I wanted to do with this story ~~, but now I've got an idea, so the next one shouldn't take as long. I didn't have enough time to edit this chapter, so there might be some issues. I'll try to edit it more before the next one, though there won't be any significant changes.~~


End file.
